Birds – Page 30 – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

April 5, 2014

Great Blue Heron

On our drive to the dikes this morning, we had a great blue heron take off from the side of the road, and fly straight towards the car. I braked hard (luckily it was early and there was no one else on the road) and the heron decided to change direction at the last possible moment, so thankfully, no casualties today 🙂 It’s amazing to see them up close though, and be able to see how big their wingspan is.

I am glad I grabbed my camera bag on the way out the door, as I had some great bird sightings today. I only managed a few shots of the heron, but I have lots more photos to go through for future posts.

A lovely reflection of the heron in the river. 1/160sec, f5.6, ISO1600 — A lovely reflection of the heron in the river.
1/160sec, f5.6, ISO1600

Relaxed at the water's edge; no doubt keeping an eye out for the next meal. — Relaxed at the water’s edge; no doubt keeping an eye out for the next meal.

March 27, 2014

Propeller Hummingbird

The amazing acrobatic abilities of the hummingbird!

March 26, 2014

Hummingbird with her tongue out

Continuing on with the hummingbirds!

If you look very closely, you can see that this hummingbird is sticking her tongue out (maybe she was tired of the flash). I've posted a second photo where she is not, for comparison purposes. I love the angle of the light, as the beautiful gold green colour of her feathers is very apparent. 1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO100 with speed light — If you look very closely, you can see that this hummingbird is sticking her tongue out (maybe she was tired of the flash). I’ve posted a second photo where she is not, for comparison purposes.
I love the angle of the light, as the beautiful gold green colour of her feathers is very apparent.
1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO100 with speed light

I've posted this photo to compare to the other photo of the female on the feeder. 1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO100, 150mm with speed light — I’ve posted this photo to compare to the other photo of the female on the feeder.
1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO100, 150mm with speed light

March 25, 2014

Male Rufous Hummingbird

The photos I have of the male rufous hummingbird in flight (so far!) are not as sharp as I would like, but this one of him paused at the feeder highlights his beautiful colouring.
He didn’t stay long as the female kept coming around and chasing him off!

1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO1250

March 24, 2014

Female Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

I was so happy to see my first hummingbirds of the year this past weekend, and was able to spend some time relaxing on my parent’s porch, camera at the ready to capture a few shots. I’m quite pleased with the results, so there just might be a hummingbird of the day around here for the next little while 🙂

1/200 sec, f5.6, ISO 100 with speed light

1/200 left significant motion blur of the wings, and with the light, the fastest I tried was 1/640, and that didn’t even come close to freezing the wing motion.

March 18, 2014

Penguin

The long grass was doing nothing to enhance the photo, and the Jackass penguin has only a limited amount of pale pink colouring around the eyes, so I decided to do a black and white conversion. After a hectic day, unwinding with some editing seemed like a good choice, and the penguin made me smile. Mission accomplished 🙂

1/320sec, f5.6, ISO200 – conversion in Silver Efex

Penguin at Boulder Beach, Cape Town, South Africa, March 2013.

February 10, 2014

Silhouettes

The clear, cold weather over the weekend brought with it a lot of shivering, but also a lot of great photos opportunities. I had Spencer with me, so I was more concerned with his well-being and enjoyment than getting the perfect shot… but, I still managed to get a few that I really like.

I hadn’t set out with a theme in mind, but the strongest photos of the weekend were all silhouettes (a clear topic for the blog – hurray!)

I see a Cooper's Hawk on nearly every weekend walk I take out at the dikes, and still they catch me by surprise most times. I was glad I had the camera set to capture it in flight. The setting sun is glimmering off of some of the ice floating in the river. 1/1250, f5.6, ISO100. — I see a Cooper’s Hawk on nearly every weekend walk I take out at the dikes, and still they catch me by surprise most times. I was glad I had the camera set to capture it in flight. The setting sun is glimmering off of some of the ice floating in the river. 1/1250, f5.6, ISO100.

I saw this pair on the dike as we were pulling into the parking lot, and snapped a few quick photos without thinking too much more about it. This is one of my favourites from that afternoon. 1/1250, f4.5, ISO100 — I saw this pair on the dike as we were pulling into the parking lot, and snapped a few quick photos without thinking too much more about it. This is one of my favourites from that afternoon.
1/1250, f4.5, ISO100

Cool tones in the sky, and ribbons of ice lining the river's edge. The ice creaking in the dark made things a little bit spooky. I had to adjust my exposure slider 1 1/2 stops in processing, so I guess I should have bumped my ISO to start or waited an extra 10 seconds or so during the exposure. 61sec, f22, ISO100 — Cool tones in the sky, and ribbons of ice lining the river’s edge. The ice creaking in the dark made things a little bit spooky.
I had to adjust my exposure slider 1 1/2 stops in processing, so I guess I should have bumped my ISO to start or waited an extra 10 seconds or so during the exposure. 61sec, f22, ISO100

While we were walking, I saw this shape in the water, and thought it was a oddly shaped stump. When I realized it was a heron resting, I set up right away, and didn't bother adjusting my settings; I just hoped it would stay still long enough to get a shot. Like the Golden Ears photo, I had to adjust my exposure slider 1 1/2 stops...but I am glad I pressed down on the remote when I did, as he soon shifted position. 34sec, f29, ISO100 — While we were walking, I saw this shape in the water, and thought it was a oddly shaped stump. When I realized it was a heron resting, I set up right away, and didn’t bother adjusting my settings; I just hoped it would stay still long enough to get a shot. Like the Golden Ears photo, I had to adjust my exposure slider 1 1/2 stops…but I am glad I pressed down on the remote when I did, as he soon shifted position.
34sec, f29, ISO100

I love the sky before sunrise, with the beautiful warm tones to the east, and cool tones to the west. 2.5sec, f22, ISO100 — I love the sky before sunrise, with the beautiful warm tones to the east, and cool tones to the west.
2.5sec, f22, ISO100

Beautiful Mount Baker, about a half hour before sunrise. 6.0sec, f25, ISO100 — Beautiful Mount Baker, about a half hour before sunrise.
6.0sec, f25, ISO100

December 25, 2013

Birds at Finn Slough

It’s been several weeks since I went on my last photo walk with my class, but life has gotten in the way of putting together a post of my favourite photos.

The purpose of the trip was to concentrate on the altered landscape, but instead I was focused on all the birds. I rarely see swans in the local area, and on the drive in went past a field filled with them. There was no where to pull over to take a photo, and I was glad when I arrived at Finn Slough and had another opportunity for a photo.

November 17, 2013

Cooper's Hawk

I was lucky enough to have my camera while out on a walk early yesterday morning along the dikes. It was quite foggy, and I was hoping to capture a few shots for a project I am working on. I saw some moment in the tall grasses along the edge of the river, and managed to capture a sequence of a Cooper’s Hawk hunting. I didn’t manage to see in the end if he or she was success in the hunt, but it was still a great thing to witness. The thick fog adds a bit of a vintage feel to the pictures.

August 18, 2013

Nature – Close to Home

I’m currently taking another digital photography course, so I have been busy the last few weeks snapping photos to meet very specific parameters. I was happy as the assignment this week was for landscape photos, both natural and urban.

I don’t yet have a macro lens, but I do really like the results of the close ups shown below – even though they really make me feel as if fall is on the way.

On a larger scale, I captured this lovely sunset near an area where I normally walk Spencer. I often see ducks, geese, heron and the occasional hawk and bald eagle in the area, as well as coyotes if we head out early enough.

Not the sharpest photo, as I was looking towards the shoreline for photos that would highlight texture. A beautiful sighting though.